Here are a few random thoughts as I peruse the box scores from last night’s NBA action:

- Al Horford was the high efficiency man on the night (+38), matching LeBron’s total from the night before. He posted 24 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and looks like a “go-to” post player instead of the complementary player he was last season. Josh Smith was also highly efficient (+29) with 18 points (on 7-10 shooting), eight assists, five steals, three rebounds and two blocks. The duo took advantage of the Pacers’ front line.

- Elton? Elton? Where are you? Elton Brand’s bounce-back season got off to a rough start (8p, 6r, 2a). Marreese Speights (26p, 5r) and Lou Williams (18p, 4a, 4r) were the two bright spots in the Sixers’ loss to the Magic.

- Two games…two losses for the Cavs. It’s early, but this is not how LeBron and Co. wanted to start the season. James had a triple-double (23p, 11r, 12a), but missed 12 shots. Mo Williams scored 16 points, but missed 10 shots. Shaq posted 12 points and seven rebounds. The Cavs shot 35% from the field.

- The Raptors look revitalized. Andrea Bargnani (28p, 5r) is starting to look like a young Dirk Nowitzki, though doesn’t rebound nearly as well. Chris Bosh (21p, 16r) might very well re-sign if Toronto can get back into the top four or five in the East.

- The Celtics held the Bobcats to a pathetic 59 points. Charlotte only had one player in double figures — Gerald Wallace (10p, 12r).

- Miami got a great game from Jermaine O’Neal (22p, 12r, 4a) and if he needs to stay healthy and play well if the Heat are going to threaten any of the East’s elite this season. Michael Beasley (21p, 3r) didn’t do much on the glass, but hit 9 of 14 shots.

- The Knicks were led by David Lee (22p, 9r) and Wilson Chandler (21p, 7r), while Danilo Gallinari (22p, 6r) had a nice game off the bench.

- Al Jefferson (9p, 4r) did play in the opener, but he only saw 25 minutes. Jonny Flynn (18p, 4r, 2a, 2s) got the start at point guard and played pretty well in the win.

- Brook Lopez (27p, 15r, 4a, 5b) looks primed for a monster season. Yi Jianlian (17p, 12r, 2b) was surprisingly effective as well.

- Chris Paul (26p, 9a) and David West (18p, 9r, 3a, 3s) need some help. The good news is that Emeka Okafor (18p, 10r) looked solid, but the Hornets have problems at the wing, where they’re starting Morris Peterson (7p, 0r) and Julian Wright (8p, 4r). Wright is a pretty good defender, but Peterson is better suited for bench duty. Steven Jackson or Rip Hamilton would be a great fit here.

- DeJuan Blair (14p, 11r, 3a) led the Spurs in efficiency (+22). Richard Jefferson (5p, 4r, 5a) was quiet in his San Antonio debut.

- Kevin Martin (27p, 4r, 4a) missed 14 shots, but doesn’t have much help. Tyreke Evans (10p, 4r, 2a) shot just 5-16 from the field.

- Thabo Sefolosha started at off guard and dominated James Harden in minutes 34 to 13. Russell Westbrook (14p, 13a, 7r), Kevin Durant (25p, 11r, 4a), Jeff Green (24p, 8r) and Nenad Krstic (20p, 7r) all looked good, but they were facing the Kings.

- Marc Gasol (21p, 15r, 3b) had a nice game for the Grizzlies even though they were blown out on their home court.

- Ty Lawson (17p, 6a, 4r) had a great game off the Nuggets’ bench. It will be interesting to see if he gets 20+ minutes when J.R. Smith comes back from suspension. Anthony Carter and Aaron Afflalo are George Karl’s other option at guard opposite Chauncey Billups.

- Luis Scola (21p, 11r) bounced back from a dreadful game the night before. He needs to play well this season for the Rockets to stay competitive. Trevor Ariza (25p, 5r, 5a) had a big night in the win over the Warriors, but turned the ball over six times.

- Stephen Curry (14p, 7a) got the start and played pretty well.

- Grant Hill (19p, 13r) still has some juice in those old legs. Amare Stoudemire (16p, 5r) posted a substandard line as he works his way back into shape.

Here are a few random thoughts as I peruse the box scores from opening night action:

- Is this what we’re going to get from Mo Williams (12p, 0r, 3a)? He averaged 18p/4r/4a last season, but there are a lot of new faces in Cleveland, including Shaq. It’s only one game, but it’s worrisome.

- LeBron was the high efficiency man on the night with +38. His line (38p, 8a, 4r, 4b, 2s) plus 55% shooting is the model of efficiency. He was even 4 of 9 from long range.

- Paul Pierce (23p, 11r) was quiet much of the second but took over in the fourth quarter. With KG and Ray-Ray getting older, he’s a safe bet to lead the C’s in scoring on any given night.

- Rasheed Wallace (12p, 3r, 2b) was reasonably efficient in 24 minutes. He’s not as tough in the pain, but he can stretch the floor in a way that Kendrick Perkins can’t.

- He’s baaaaack. Gilbert Arenas (29p, 9a) made a splash in his first game back, and shot 48% from the field.

- Randy Foye (19p, 3r, 2s) didn’t start, but played 30 minutes and was effective. Andray Blatche (20p, 7r) looks like a safe bet to produce as long as Antawn Jamison is out.

- Shawn Marion (16p, 7r, 3b) looks like he still has it.

- It was a dreadful night for Luis Scola (3p, 4r), who needs to have a big year if the Rockets are going to compete without Yao Ming.

- Kyle Lowry (12p, 8a, 3r, 2s) was highly efficient (+19) off the Rockets’ bench. He and Aaron Brooks (+18) may be Houston’s best fantasy plays night in and night out.

- Brandon Roy (20p, 5r, 5a) shot horribly (5-18) from the field, but the Blazers cruised to an easy win. Travis Outlaw (+26) came off the bench to lead the team in efficiency by a wide margin. Martell Webster (+17) also had an efficient game.

- Andre Miller (9p, 7a, 4r) came off the bench, but played as many minutes as starter Steve Blake.

- Chris Kaman (18p, 16r) and Andrew Bynum (23p, 13r) are going to thrive as long as Blake Griffin and Pau Gasol are sidelined.

- Ron Artest (10p, 5r, 4a) had a decent Laker debut, but had a low efficiency game (+5) due to four turnovers and seven missed shots.

BALL DON’T LIE recently published a guest post from RealGM’s Alex Kennedy that discusses why fantasy basketball is struggling when compared to fantasy football. Kennedy goes on to promote PASPN, a company that runs uber-realistic 30-team leagues where fantasy owners can play GM or even take the role as agent to negotiate contracts for their clients.

But what about fantasy basketball as it stands? Is there a way to fix it?

I think so. As both an avid fantasy football and fantasy basketball owner, I think fantasy hoops struggles for several reasons:

Problem #1: Roto or category scoring systems are convoluted and difficult to understand/manage.
Most fantasy basketball leagues utilize one of two formats. A roto format awards points based on a team’s rank in each of several categories. The team with the most roto points at the end of the season wins the leagues. Another format is category scoring, where each team plays head to head with another team in several categories, so one team might win in points, rebounds and assists, but lose in FG%, turnovers and blocks.

Solution: Go to a head-to-head fantasy points system.
My recommendation is to use the NBA’s efficiency statistic to calculate fantasy points for each player. Here is how efficiency is calculated:

EFF = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) – ((Field Goals Att. – Field Goals Made) + (Free Throws Att. – Free Throws Made) + Turnovers))

That may look complicated, but really it just adds up a player’s points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, while subtracting his turnovers, missed free throws and missed field goals. I like this statistic because it covers all the major stats while rewarding an efficient shooter more than a volume shooter. For example, a player that scores 20 points on 15 shots is probably going to have a higher EFF than a player that scores 20 points on 20 shots, because of the negative effect of missed field goals. Most importantly, a fantasy owner can look at a box score and have a pretty good idea about how his player performed that night.

Here is a list of the top 10 EPG players from the 2008-09 season: 1) LeBron James, 2) Chris Paul, 3) Dwyane Wade, 4) Dwight Howard, 5) Al Jefferson (pre-injury), 6) Dirk Nowitzki, 7) Pau Gasol, Chris Bosh, 9) Tim Duncan and 10) Kobe Bryant.

Of that list, only Al Jefferson stands out as a surprise, but don’t forget that he was averaging 23.1 points and 10.9 rebounds before going down with a knee injury mid-season.

Problem #2: There are too many games.
With games going on throughout the week, owners have to pay more attention to their teams, and this narrows the appeal to only those people with enough time or desire to check/set their rosters on a daily basis.

Solution: Set rosters once-a-week.
Every Monday (or any other day of the week), fantasy owners set their roster for the week and it is frozen when the first game tips-off. This would only require that the most laid-back owners manage their teams once a week.

Problem #3: One player might have four games, while another has two or three games in a given week. Who do you start?
While some fantasy owners may appreciate the strategy involved with maximizing their team’s schedule, this is beyond the scope of casual fans.

Solution: Instead of total fantasy points, use the AVERAGE for the week.
If LeBron scores 40 fp in his game on Monday, 35 fp on Thursday and 30 fp on Sunday, his average would be 35 fp per game. His average would be added to the averages to all of the other players in the starting lineup to come up with a total (average) fantasy points for the week. This would allow fantasy owners to start their best players every week and not worry about the number of games they play week-to-week. It would also keep the games interesting heading into the weekend. A team that’s trailing could pull out a win with an epic performance from its star player or even win with a horrible performance by an opposing player.

I am going to test this format this season and see how it goes. Drop me a line at scoresreport@gmail.com if you’re interested in participating.

10/10/09 Update: After hunting around for a site that offered average stats without much success, I found one (Fantrax) that is free and offers what I want. I have a 12-team league that’s full and ready to go, and I’ll report back after the season with feedback from the members of our league. I had to tweak my scoring system a bit, because they don’t currently offer a stat for free throws missed, but the work around is simple — assign -1 points for each free throw attempted and 1 point for each free throw made. The result is -1 point for each free throw missed.